Box Score Game Box (pdf)
Postgame Quotes (pdf)
Postgame Video Interviews
NCAA Postgame Press Conference
MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin – In the second round of the NCAA Tournament, the Wofford men's basketball team was defeated 57-40 by Michigan at the BMO Harris Bradley Center. The Wolverines, a #2 seed, took a 14-point lead at the half. The Terriers, the #15 seed, fought back to make it a seven point game with 9:25 remaining before Michigan scored 10 of the next 12 points to pull away.
The Terriers end the season at 20-13 and Michigan is 26-8 overall. Karl Cochran led all scorers with 17 points, while Justin Gordon added eight for the Terriers. Lee Skinner had six points and six rebounds. The Wolverines were led by Nik Stauskas with 15 points and Glenn Robinson III with 14 points and seven rebounds.
"I've been doing it a long time, 28 years," said head coach Mike Young. "I wanted a different outcome. We thought we could come over here and we had some specific things we could do, needed to do to win. You know, we guarded them really, really well. We couldn't make a shot. And, you know, last time I checked, that's pretty important aspect of the game is to get it in the hole and puts a lot of pressure on your defense. Talking about guarding Stauskas and Robinson and others, makes it awfully hard, but I'm beaming with pride with these guys sitting to my left and their accomplishments, our program's accomplishments, and we got a pretty good team coming back. So, we'll walk out of here with our head high."
Lee Skinner scored the first four points of the game, but the Wolverines answered and tied the game at 4-4 with 17:05 on the clock. Michigan continued the 9-0 run and had a 9-4 lead five minutes into the first half. A jumper by Jaylen Allen ended the run for a 9-6 score with 12:22 remaining.
After a three pointer by Michigan, Justin Gordon made a lay-up for a 12-8 score. The Wolverines scored the next eight points for a 20-8 lead at the eight minute mark. Spencer Collins hit a jumper from just inside the arc to make it 20-10 with 7:47 remaining in the first half. Karl Cochran added a jumper and a pair of free throws by Eric Garcia cut the lead to 23-14 with 4:50 on the clock.
The Wolverines pushed the score to 27-14 before a jumper by Spencer Collins with 2:53 left in the first half. After a three by Michigan, Karl Cochran added a lay-up for a 30-18 score. A steal and lay-up by Karl Cochran cut the lead to 32-20 with 40 seconds on the clock. A pair of Michigan free throws gave them a 34-20 advantage at the break. At the half, Wofford was shooting just 28.6% from the floor and was 0-8 from three. The Wolverines were 63.6% from the floor and had a 16 to 10 lead in rebounds.
Three minutes into the second half, the Wolverines scored the first points on a three pointer by Nik Stauskas for a 37-20 lead. After a free throw for a 38-20 advantage, Wofford went on a 6-0 run that included four points by Karl Cochran to make it 38-26 game with 13:53 on the clock. Another bucket by Karl Cochran cut the score to 38-28 before a dunk by the Wolverines gave them a 40-28 lead with 11:59 left in the second half.
Justin Gordon added a bucket for Wofford to make it a 40-30 game at the midpoint of the second half. A three pointer from the top of the arc by Karl Cochran cut the lead to 40-33 with 9:25 on the clock. The Wolverines then hit a bucket and free throw for a 43-33 lead. Justin Gordon had a lay-up to make it a 43-35 game, but Michigan answered with a 7-0 run to take a 50-35 lead with 4:19 remaining in the half.
The Terriers had a lay-up by Karl Cochran, but a three pointer by the Wolverines pushed the lead to 53-37 with 3:37 left on the clock. Lee Skinner tipped in the ball for a 53-39 score, but a three pointer by Nik Stauskas effectively ended the game with 1:03 remaining. Both teams cleared the bench with 31.4 seconds left in the game with the Wolverines up 57-40, which proved the be the final score.
Wofford shot 34.0% from the floor and Michigan was 47.8% overall. The Terriers were 1-of-19 from with three, while the Wolverines were 7-of-17 from behind the arc. Michigan was 6-of-9 from the line, while Wofford was 3-of-4 on free throws. Michigan had a 31-26 lead on the boards, but Wofford had two fewer turnovers in the game.
Michigan will advance to face the winner of the Texas/Arizona State game on Saturday afternoon in the third round.
Wofford Team Notes
- After missing its first 14 attempts, Wofford converted to extend its streak of consecutive games with a three-point field goal to 379.
- Karl Cochran has game-high 17 points, with 11 of them coming in the second half.
- Wofford's lowest point total of season. The previous low was 49 vs. Davidson.
- Wofford suffered just its third loss in 16 games.
- Wofford made its first two shots from the field and then missed its next 10 attempts.
- After falling behind 4-0, Michigan scored 20 of the next 24 points to take a 20-8 lead with 8:09 left in the first half.
- Michigan made 14 of its first 21 shots from the field.
- Wofford is 0-3 in the championship, having previously lost to Wisconsin in 2010 and BYU in 2011.
